Bella Vista Elementary School

This grant proposal requests funding to improve an elementary physical education program by acquiring six adjustable, regulation-sized basketball hoops and a set of pedometers. The primary objective is to provide all students, particularly those in lower grades, with developmentally appropriate equipment that facilitates skill acquisition, engagement, and achievement. At present, younger elementary students are required to practice basketball skills using standard 10-foot hoops, which poses a barrier to participation and limits opportunities for success. The introduction of adjustable hoops will enable students to develop fundamental motor skills, including shooting, passing, and coordination, at an appropriate level. This approach fosters confidence and encourages sustained participation in physical activity. Additionally, this proposal incorporates pedometers as technology-based instructional tools. These devices will enable students to monitor daily steps, establish personal fitness goals, and track progress over time. The use of pedometers supports contemporary educational practices by making physical activity measurable, engaging, and relevant. This initiative also aligns with national and state physical education standards that emphasize goal setting, self-management, and lifelong fitness habits.

Contact: Eric Nunez

Office Phone: (760) 251-7244

Email: enunez1@psusd.us

Bella Vista Elementary School serves over 100 students who struggle with speech and language delays/disorders which affect their ability to understand and share their thoughts, ideas and desires clearly. For many, this has a significant impact on their academic learning. As speech-language pathologists, we work on the underlying skills necessary to achieve the core curriculum standards in reading, writing, listening comprehension and oral/written language.

The Smart Boards funded by the Anderson Children’s Foundation will be a tool for our speech-language pathologists to reach each student with an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) with engaging, motivating and interactive activities. These interactive activities will provide opportunities for students to collaborate with one another which helps to develop social language skills, vocabulary, articulation, written expression and literacy.

We can use the Smart Board during story/reading comprehension. When reading/listening to a story, vocabulary may appear that students are not familiar with, and they may not quite understand a verbal explanation. One can use the Smart Board and go to Google Images or to prepared slides with pictures/photos to show what the word means.

For example, a student may not know what the abstract term “abundance” means but seeing different pictures with many of the same things can help them to better understand the concept.

We can also use the Smart Board to teach thought organization (which is made up of categorization and sequencing skills), where we can write the name of a category and then ask students to name and write items within the category on the Smart Board. If they get stuck we can verbally describe item(s); but if they are still having difficulty and we want to provide visual prompts, e.g. the category is fruit, they could tap the fruit icon and pictures/words of fruit would automatically pop up; and thus allow the student to decide how much prompting they need. This ultimately helps the students to work towards independence.

The above are just two of the infinite number of applications that can be used with the Smart Board during speech therapy sessions. We are very excited to have this technology available for our students and know that it will be a powerful tool for our Speech-Language Pathologists to use.

Contact: Eileen Sandler

Email: esandler@psusd.us

Contact: Laura Granillo-Giles

Email: lgranillogiles@psusd.us

Bella Vista Elementary School serves a population of 750 students with 92.2% being socioeconomically disadvantaged. Many of our students struggle academically as well as with social and emotional issues. The interactive panels funded by the Anderson Children’s Foundation will be a tool for teachers to reach every student with engaging, motivating lessons. The interactive activities will provide opportunities for students to collaborate with one another which helps to develop social and emotional skills. The focus on both academic and social issues will increase student outcomes and decrease disruptive behaviors. These panels can be used across the curriculum and by several students at the same time. They allow for visual, auditory and kinesthetic interaction with the content which enables every learner to participate in the way that they learn best. The software has built-in collaboration tools for teachers to build and share lessons with each other and an online lesson bank of curriculum materials built by teachers around the globe.

We are excited to have this technology available for our students and know that it will be a powerful tool for our teachers! “A class with high levels of participation becomes a powerful learning machine.”

The Bella Vista Counseling Club aims to provide a school-based counseling program for children on an individual and group basis. Bella Vista students struggle with family conflict, family substance abuse, single parent homes, homelessness, grief and loss, and various other issues that come from a low socioeconomic status. This program will help students improve their decision-making skills, allowing them to effectively deal with conflict and family struggles and achieve academic success.